History of the Subaru Emblem

Subaru is the automobile division of the Japanese transportation company, Subaru Corporation formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries. The name Subaru came from the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster M45 or popularly known as the “Seven Sisters”. They are the first automobile manufacturers to use a Japanese word as its name. On their Western markets, Subaru has their regular customers and their marketing is targeted to people who have the desire for the company’s signature drive train engine, affordable sports car, and all-wheel and rough road capable cars. If some of you are wondering how did it come up with its name and its logo, we are here to tell you the story behind Subaru’s beautiful name and its iconic emblem.

History

Fuji Heavy Industries was created through an investment of five different companies in 1953. After that, the five companies merged with FHI, including its automobile manufacturing division. The name Subaru came from the Japanese name for the Pleiades. They are also known as the Messier 45 or the Seven Sisters in which according to Greek mythology, the seven stars were Atlas’ daughters: Asterope, Maia. Taygeta, Calaeno. Alcyone, Electra, and Erope. But if the car brand is named after the said constellation with seven daughters, why are there only six stars in Subaru’s logo? Well, the reason cannot be seen by our naked eye because the cluster of stars appears to only have six stars but the two are so close together that they appear to be seen as one big star. This is also the reason why the Pleiades constellation is also known for being a unification of the stars.

On the other hand, Subaru’s logo’s largest star symbolizes Fuji Heavy Industries while the five small stars represent the five companies that merged with FHI. And the background of the emblem is blue because the colors of the Pleiades stars are blue.

Subaru’s logo has evolved since the 1950s where the background colors and the disposition of the stars changing a number of times. Earlier versions of the emblem featured a correct model of the cluster and interconnected stars. As Subaru’s logo designers look for different logo variations, they came up with several changes including a gold design of the stars, red or speckled background, and some slight modifications of the silver oval. Later on, the designers replaced the classic disposition of the Pleiades stars with a more organized and attractive structure. They moved the biggest star to the upper left side of the logo and lined the other five starts in the bottom right corner. The latest Subaru emblem has a blue background that has become lighter and has gradient shades. Its oval shape has gone more flattened too. The cars that have this emblem have become recognized all over the world for their Symmetrical All Wheel Drive

Since 1958, Subaru has consistently used the emblem around the world and it emphasizes the brand’s ongoing global unity.